The Charging Buccaneers, one victory away from the newly consolidated school’s first appearance in the Louisiana High School Athletic Association State Farm Prep Classic, may be the best kept secret of any of the remaining state semifinalists.

Which is OK with the Charging Bucs as they prepare for what they believe is going to be a cataclysmic upheaval in the hierarchy of Class 4A football.

Landry-Walker’s mission is to slay their Algiers rivals and reigning state champions, the Karr Cougars.

Kickoff between the state’s No. 2 and 3 seeded teams is scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday at Tad Gormley Stadium, with the winner advancing to the state finals against Friday’s winner between No. 1 Neville (12-0) and No. 4 East Jefferson (13-0).

Third-seeded Landry-Walker and No. 2 Karr, each 11-1, are meeting for a second time with the Charging Bucs having sustained their lone loss in a 26-22 decision on Oct. 11. In that game Landry-Walker led 22-7 until surrendering three unanswered touchdowns in the third and fourth quarters, including the game-winner with two minutes, 16 seconds remaining to decide the District 9-4A championship.

“To get this chance again, things like this don’t come around every year,’’ junior quarterback and co-captain Li’Jon Cordier said. “So we have to be ready to take advantage of this opportunity and have the will to win.’’

In serving as a stabilizing force in an 11th-hour consolidation of two rival Algiers schools, Landry and O. Perry Walker, that many community members believed could not work, the Charging Buccaneers established themselves as winners months ago.

“We were two schools coming together, Landry and Walker, so we were kind of like underdogs,’’ senior co-captain and strong safety Damond Jackson said. “But we became brothers. We worked hard since the summer and through the season and this is the outcome.

“It was mostly the alumni that thought it couldn’t work. We the players have grown up together, so we knew this would work. (The consolidation) actually has given us more talent to work with in order to get to the Superdome. So far our dreams are coming true.’’

As for being 11-1 with a No. 4 state ranking in the final Class 4A regular season poll not to mention the aforementioned No. 3 seeding in the playoffs, Jackson said, “We didn’t think we were going to be 11-1,’’ Jackson said. “We thought we were going to be 12-0.’’

The Charging Bucs pretty much were alone in that mindset given that the team received not a single vote in the Louisiana Sports Writers Association preseason poll.

But a 5-0 start followed by the near upset of Karr vaulted the Charging Bucs into statewide consciousness and they have not looked back in winning seven straight games to advance to the state semifinals in their first official season of LHSAA competition.

O. Perry Walker under former Coach Frank Wilson, who is now a LSU assistant coach, did make a lone appearance in a state championship game more than a decade ago in 2002 where the Chargers fell, 16-14, to Curtis in the Class 4A finals.

Landry-Walker’s current offensive and defensive coordinators, John Johnson and Dennis Christopher, played quarterback and linebacker on that team.

Landry won a Louisiana Interscholastic Athletic and Literary Organization state championship in 1959 under Coach Felix James. Those Buccaneers featured future NFL All-Pro defensive end Rich “Tombstone’’ Jackson.

Today’s Charging Buccaneers are a conglomeration of size, speed and power driven by a stout defense and opportunistic offense.

In addition to Jackson, the Charging Bucs defense is led by junior tackle George Lea, senior defensive backs Anthony Milton and Travonne Hobbs, senior middle linebacker Jason Caldwell and junior rover Kendell Harrison. Milton is a free safety and Hobbs a cornerback in Christopher’s 4-2-5 scheme.

Offensively, the Charging Bucs feature two quarterbacks in Cordier and freshman Keytaon Thompson, an emerging force at running back in junior Javon Conner, plus three talented wide receivers in Brandon Butler and Milton and Hobbs.

Highly-regarded left tackle Alex Anderson, an Arizona State commitment, anchors the offensive line.

“It hasn’t been about two schools, it’s really been about one team,’’ Landry-Walker Coach Emanuel Powell said of his Charging Buccaneers. “We don’t have any real superstar. We don’t have a five-star athlete. We just have a bunch of players who play as one. We play together.

“Our motto all year has been, ‘No retreat, no surrender, the Landry-Walker way. That’s what this game (against Karr) is going to be about, which team can impose its will, which team can win in the trenches, which team can execute.’’

Landry-Walker was penalized 17 times for 132 yards against Karr, committed three turnovers via two interceptions and one lost fumble and had four possessions that advanced to Karr’s 28, 34, 43 and 41 yard lines without scoring.

But the Charging Bucs also finished with a 318-218 advantage in yardage and had a 74-yard punt return for a touchdown by Milton negated by penalty in which he was ruled to have stepped out of bounds and then returned to the field of play prior to fielding the punt.

It was in the Karr game in which Cordier broke the thumb on his right passing hand on the first play of the third quarter and was forced to exit. The injury forced Powell and his coaching staff to hand the ball to Thompson, a 6-foot-4, 175-pound freshman and dual threat quarterback who did not disappoint in directing the team to a 4-0 finish that included a 41-6 victory against Lake Area New Technology in week 10 not recognized by the LHSAA.

With Cordier and Thompson available for the playoffs, the Charging Buccaneers have hit their stride offensively in polishing off No. 30 Ellender, 62-0 in bi-district, No. 14 LaGrange, 34-7, in regionals and then last week No. 6 Plaquemines, 20-7, in the quarterfinals.

“Those two quarterbacks have been very unselfish,’’ Johnson said. “Instead of complaining and saying they wanted to be the guy alone, they have bought into our team concept which has allowed us to maximize all of our weapons.

“They each bring different things to the table. Li’Jon is our team captain. He’s our leader. What he does best on the field is he takes command of our offense. He’s able to sit in the pocket and pick you apart.

“Keytaon is a dual threat quarterback first of all and he’s a kid, I believe, has that ‘it’ factor. Despite him being a freshman, no game is too big for him. He believes he belongs.’’

The offense now has an identity, Johnson said. “Another big factor’’ in merging two programs “was we had to determine who did what the best. It took some time and a lot of shuffling to identify who was best suited in the different roles. In the last few weeks we’ve started to figure it out.

“It was difficult initially to teach half a football team a new scheme. But I told the kids we don’t need to be week one state champs, we need to be week 15 state champions.’’

On defense where the Charging Bucs sometimes employ a “Prowl’’ package in which no defenders take a three-point stance and they move around prior to the snap of the ball, Christopher said:

“The guys are on the same page and they’re hungry to get to state. They’re hungry to get to the ball. We have a good staff. The kids have bought into our scheme. We have the personnel. So, overall, we have the talent, the coaching and the desire. That’s why we’ve been successful.’’

Statistically, the Charging Bucs remain an anomaly in that in keeping with their clandestine image no offensive or defensive stats have been made available and it’s week 14 of the prep season.

“Team work has been a key,’’ Cordier said. “We all came together really strong. When adversity came the team came together to pull through. We formed a bond.’’

That bond between the two former rival programs was not difficult, Cordier said. “We actually grew up together. We played park ball together. We see this as betterment for the city, us combining.

“We see it as giving the state more competition and us taking over the state. When we got the opportunity to play together, we knew it was going to be something dangerous for the rest of the state.’’

Now is the time for redemption. But not payback, Powell emphasizes.

“It’s not a payback game,’’ Powell said. “We’re playing game to see who goes to the championship. It’s a game that means a lot to the community.’’

Anticipation “has been brewing since week six, ever since we walked off of that field that night,’’ Powell added. “I sense a lot more focus, a lot more exuberance, a lot more excitement.

“This is Landry-Walker versus Karr, so of course there is excitement. When you play to go to the championship game, that only adds to it.’’

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Mike Strom can be reached at Mstrom@nola.comor 504.826.3405. Follow him at twitter.com/TheMikeStrom.